Selling for $18,000 in 2009, Venture compares the driving sensation of the V1 to “flying a jet fighter 2 feet off the ground.” Capable of reaching top speeds of approximately 100 mph, it takes corners like a racing motorcycle that leans almost completely to one side. The two wheels and propulsion system in the back stay firmly on the ground, while the single front wheel and cabin—more like a glass-enclosed cockpit—tilts at angles up to 45 degrees. The automated tilting system, developed by Carver Engineering in the Netherlands and licensed by Venture Vehicles, uses a combination of hydraulic and mechanical technologies to determine the ideal angle and balance based on the traveling speed, rate of acceleration, and road conditions.
The fully electric version, featuring two in-wheel 20 kW electric motors and a 17 kWh lithium ion battery pack, delivers approximately 120 miles on a single charge. If you want to boost your range to 350 miles, you can opt for a 50 kW series plug-in hybrid version using a small internal combustion engine, a four gallon fuel tank ,and a 3 kWh li-ion battery pack.
A word of caution: If you drive a Revolution electric car, don’t plan to slip by unnoticed. This car draws more attention than the most exotic sports car, and once people learn the Revolution is powered by electricity rather than gasoline, well, you’d better have some information to hand over or you may be cornered a while answering questions. That’s what happened when Green Car editors were tooling around town in this car recently, the same experience we had when driving a GM EV1 back in the late 1990s.
Top of the Line Electric
TESLA MOTORS
The first time you drive the Tesla Roadster, prepare to be surprised. You're at freeway speed in seconds without even thinking about it. There is no clutch pedal to contend with and no race-car driving techniques to perform. Just the touch of your foot and you're off, without any of the sluggishness of an automatic.
How powerful is the acceleration? A quick story to illustrate. A favorite trick here at Tesla Motors is to invite a passenger along and ask him to turn on the radio. At the precise moment we ask, we accelerate. Our passenger simply can't sit forward enough to reach the dials. But who needs music when you're experiencing such a symphony of motion.
These days, auto safety recalls don’t get much attention, so the news that General Motors was recalling 9,000 of its 2007 Saturn mild hybrids to replace the high-voltage battery pack in each one was no more than a blip in the press. But behind the scenes, it was an expensive and annoying distraction for General Motors, and a huge blow to Cobasys, makers of the nickel-metal-hydride batteries. For six months now, GM has been forced to divert batteries it should have fitted to this year’s mild hybrids toward its dealers’ repair bays instead.
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